Songs for Syria
Please note: More artists are being added to the line up. Please check back often!
Coloratura Amy Jean Suznovich, noted for her "impressive vocal range," recently portrayed Cunegonde in Candide at the Main Street Theatre and originated the role of Frenchie in A Night in the Wilde Wild West with the Baroque Orchestra of NJ. Past performances include: Angelica in Handel's Orlando, Rodelinda in Handel's Rodelinda, Gilda in Rigoletto, Le Rossignol in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges, Rapunzel in Into the Woods and Helena in Midsummer Night's Dream. She has performed with the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra, Queens Opera (NJ), Opera Siena, and Villagers Theatre, among others. Amy regularly performs concerts with The Opera Project and has performed concerts in Germany for the past six summers. Ms. Suznovich is a magna cum laude graduate of Ithaca College School of Music and professional cantor at St. Bartholomew's Church in East Brunswick. A singer for weddings and other special events, as well as private voice/piano teacher, Amy welcomes correspondence.
Soprano Shannon Elizabeth Hunt is known for her "sparkling charisma" and "technical accuracy." Equally at home in the opera house as well as the recital stage, she performs many styles of music, including opera, jazz, oratorio and gospel.
Ms. Hunt has performed with many organizations including Opera 691, Juneau Vocal Alliance, Brooklyn Repertory Opera, The Opera Project, Princeton Music Club, Follow the Drinking Gourd, Opera Oggi NY, Birmingham Opera Work, The Herbert Mark Newman Theater and the Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble. She has performed at many prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Teatro Caio Melisso (Italy), the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the James A. Michener Museum, the African-American Museum and was a featured Young Artist with the Minuetto Festival.
In addition to singing, Ms. Hunt enjoys playing the piano, composing and teaching piano and voice. She has won many awards and scholarships for vocal performance and composition from such institutions and organizations as The Minuetto Festival, Westminster Choir College, Classical Productions, Mobile Opera, Music Teachers National Association, Mobile Opera Guild, National Association of Teachers of Singing, the National Association of Negro Musicians and Birmingham-Southern College. www.shannonehunt.com
Jenne Carey recently completed a Master of Music degree at Westminster Choir College in Voice Performance and Pedagogy. She has performed the leading roles of The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, The Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel, Oberto in Alcina, Yum-Yum in the Mikado and Serpina in La Serva Padrona. She has been featured as a soloist with Westminster Opera Theater, Westminster Kantorei and Kinnara Ensemble. She was featured in Opera New Jersey's productions of Madame Butterfly and Tosca. As a Resident Artist with Underworld Productions Opera, she performed in the NY staged premiere of Clarence and Anita. Jenne has presented solo concerts in the United States, Canada and Japan and has toured Europe and Israel as a member of the World Youth Choir. www.jennecarey.com
Pianist Danielle Ingram has distinguished herself as a skilled musician whose playing exhibits “dazzling virtuosity” and “beautiful sensitivity.” She has performed in master classes of prominent classical pianists, such as Joseph Kalichstein, and with members of the Delaware, Lancaster, and Reading symphony orchestras. In addition to performing as a soloist, Ms. Ingram has performed in duo piano concerts, premiered works of contemporary composers, and has performed in benefit concerts for charities and youth scholarship programs.
A knowledgeable music educator, Ms. Ingram served on the faculties of Westminster Conservatory, Trenton Community Music School, Long Hill Music Center and has served as a lecturer and master class teacher for the Westminster Middle School Piano Camp. She currently teaches elementary general and choral music in Passaic County and maintains a private piano studio.
Ms. Ingram holds a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College and a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the University of Delaware. When not teaching or performing, she enjoys baking as another creative outlet and maintains a blog of her projects at: dessertsbydanielle.blogspot.com
Timothy Smith, tenor, is a graduate of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey with a degree in sacred music, emphasis on Renaissance choral literature. As a choral scholar, Mr. Smith has performed with some of the world's leading choirs and orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, and the Berlin Philharmonic. He has also sung with the Schola Cantorum, Orlando, Florida, of which he took part in many recordings made specifically for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Gloria Musicae, Sarasota, Florida, The Choir of S. Clements, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Cambridge Singers, London, England, under the direction of world-renowned director/composer, John Rutter.
As a choral director, Mr. Smith is the Director of Music at Grace Presbyterian Church, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, as well as Associate Professor of Music at Mercer County Community College where he currently serves as the Director of Choral Activities, and is the founder/director of early music professional choir Vox Fidelis. Vox Fidelis is a member of the New Jersey Guild for Early Music and leads a Compline series at Christ Church, Bordentown, NJ. He has also spent several years as a part-time lecturer at Mason Gross School of The Arts, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he served as the Assistant Director of the Rutgers Collegium Musicum. Mr. Smith was the director of the Collegium's most recently released recording, Vox Patris Caelestis: Music of Tallis, Tye, Sheppard, Taverner & Mundy, available on the DTR label. This recording is of great note, as it is only third in the world ever recorded of William Mundy's colossal masterpiece Vox Patris Caelestis.
Benjamin T. Berman, tenor, received his MM - Performance in 2012 from Rutgers under Judith Nicosia, and a BM, summa cum laude, in 2010 from Rutgers, under Frederick Urrey. Benjamin is the music director of First Reformed Church of New Brunswick, the conductor of the Highland Park Community Chorus, and the director of the Rainbow Children’s Choir of New Brunswick. He collaborates with Lewis Baratz and the period instrument ensemble, La Fiocco, as a harpsichordist, and sings with the West Jersey Chamber Music Society in Moorestown, NJ. In recent recitals, Benjamin has sung performances of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin, Barber’s Hermit Songs, Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, and Butterworth’s A Shropshire Lad. Benjamin is active as a recitalist, solo voice teacher, harpsichordist, and organist in Central New Jersey. He is on the faculty at the Academy of Music in Spotswood, NJ. Visit www.benjamintberman.com for updates and information.
